newbie question: stocking strings

[tune4u@earthlink.net]

You don't want to have to reschedule a tuning (and start over) or tune a
piano that the owner can't play, all for lack of 15 cents worth of wire!
Unprofessional, IMHO, and not profitable.

Does using the right size matter. YES. Unless you like whiny, howling
unisons. Relative to everything else a tuner needs to have on hand, piano
wire is cheap.

I'm sure that everyone on the list will agree that it is a great temptation
to start compromising on those "cheap" pianos you mentioned. But maintaining
your professionalism will pay off in the long run. Make every piano sound
the best it reasonably can and try to educate your clients--the art of that
is educating them without insulting them or their pianos! Some will upgrade,
eventually. Some will pay you $$$ to improve their pianos. Some will refer
you to people with better pianos. I say, just because it's a shlock piano,
don't be a shlock tuner!

And a large part of your business is going to be on shlock pianos--at least
in the early years.

For plain wire, stock every size and half size from 12 up to 20. Schaff
sells a "starter kit" with most of these sizes (catalog p. 36).

Wound strings are another matter. I haven't gotten into using universals. I
splice them when I can, send the old one to Mapes when I must. If it is a
bichord, they can play it on one string--although this is hard on action
parts and should be limited--and if it's a unichord .... well, they can do
without for a few days but you can still finish the tuning ... <G>

*** Pay a little extra and buy enough brakes to put one on each and every
coil! This is not an option for anyone wishing to maintain their sanity.

*** Keep your fingers and other body parts out of the way of wire under
tension. Carry band-aids in your tool kit. Wear safety glasses--always,
always, always when doing string work -- never, ever make an exception to
this rule! (Did I say that strongly enough? There are plenty of wonderful
blind tuners in this business, but you need not join that club.)

Learn patience.

And yes, you must carry (in your car, not your primary tool kit) at least
the following: 2 1/2 lb sledge, heavy pliers with wire cutter, coil maker
(purchase or make one), coil lifter, sting spacer/lifter, tuning pin setter
and/or punch, and stringing hook.

Other tools are more optional but very useful: pin crank, string stretcher.
The Sciortino Insta-Coiler is expensive but I really like it when it works.
Unfortunately it works beautifully about 1/2 the time and not at all the
other half. I'd wait on that one.

It's okay to be frugal, but it's a pain to be unprepared and looking like a
tooner. Check ebay for used tools.

Hope it helps.

Alan Barnard
Salem, MO


----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Neuman" <piano@charlesneuman.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 11:02 AM
Subject: newbie question: stocking strings


> I don't want to be one of those guys who doesn't fix broken strings. But
> where do you start, in terms of stocking treble strings? Should I really
> have every size (that's quite a big initial investment), or are there
> common sizes I should start with?
>
> Also, how bad is it to be about .003" off? That is, if I stocked sizes
> that are .005" apart, then I'd be plus or minus .0025" at most. I'm
> expecting some negative responses to that, but I like to hear them. I
> assume levelling is an issue, not to mention tone and tension. But for a
> cheap piano, does it matter really?
>
> Charles Neuman
> Long Island
>
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> pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives